“India has procured some doses of monoclonal antibody from Australia in 2018 and currently the doses are available for only 10 patients,” ICMR Director General (DG) Rajiv Bahl said during a press briefing in the national capital.

According to him, no one so far has been administered the medicine in India. He added that the mortality rate in Nipah among the infected is very high (between 40 and 70 per cent) compared to the mortality in Covid, which was 2-3 per cent. Bahl said that ICMR is also planning to start work on developing a vaccine against the viral disease. 

Meanwhile, the Kerala government announced that all educational institutes in Kozhikode district will remain closed for a week until next Sunday in view of the Nipah virus outbreak reported from the region. The closure order will apply to schools, professional colleges, tuition centres and other educational institutions in the district.

SPOTLIGHT

Kerala is grappling with a renewed surge in Nipah cases. Nipah virus is a brain-damaging virus that spreads through contact with the body fluids of infected bats, pigs, or people. The virus was first detected in 2018.

All hospitals treating Nipah virus cases in Kerala have been directed to form a medical board to meet twice a day and to hand over the report to the health department.

On Friday, state Health minister Veena George said that about 29 people in other districts are on the contact list of Nipah-infected people.

George said that the contact list is likely to increase and added that as many as 17 persons who had attended the cremation of the man who died on August 30 were put under isolation. 

At present, the contact list of confirmed Nipah patients includes 1,080 people, with 130 new additions today. Out of this, 327 people are health workers.

Apart from Kozhikode, 29 people in the contact list are from neighbouring districts, with 22 in Malappuram, three each in Kannur and Thrissur, and one in Wayanad.

The state issued the Nipah virus alert on September 12 after two deaths were reported due to fever and symptoms of virus infection. Tests at the National Institute of Virology in Pune later confirmed that the deaths were caused by the Nipah virus.

The Kerala High Court on Friday asked the state government to issue guidelines, if required, for pilgrimage to Sabarimala when it opens for monthly puja in view of the outbreak.

Source: businesstoday.in